Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are still considered two of the most influential writers of their time. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a lecturer, essayist, and poet, Henry David Thoreau is his student, who was also a great essayist and critics. Both men extensively studied and embraced nature, and both men encouraged and practiced individualism and nonconformity. In Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self Reliance" and Henry David Thoreau's book "Walden" and essay "Resistance to Civil Government ("Civil Disobedience")", both thinkers speak about being individual and what reforms and changes need to be made in society. Thoreau stayed with Emerson for a while and was affected by his ideas, especially relating to the individual and society. Emerson's idea that in society the heart and power of man is drawn out and ignored, which makes people afraid of expressing their own ideas as well as being afraid of truth, led Thoreau to think that: I think that we may safely trust a good deal more than we do. We may waive just so much care of ourselves as we honestly bestow elsewhere. Nature is as well adapted to our weakness as to our strength . . . How vigilant we are! determined not to live by faith if we can avoid it; all the day long on the alert, at night we unwillingly say our prayers and commit ourselves to uncertainties . . . All change is a miracle to contemplate; but it is a miracle which is taking place every instant.(606) Emerson and Thoreau attacked the dominant religious, political, and cultural values of American society in order to make people aware that they are more important than everything is, including government and society. According to Emerson, society is a barrier against the individuality of its members; and he continued: "Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance...

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...taken from Thoreau&#8217;s quote, &#8220;If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.&#8221;
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau changed our lives. How? Well, the answer is not so simple as the statement. To understand fully how they affected our lives, we have to understand the philosophy of Emerson and Thoreau, and the relationship between the two. So let&#8217;s begin with the relationship between Emerson and Thoreau.
Emerson was born in 1803, into a family of ministers. He went to Harvard where he studied theology and philosophy, among other subjects. It was at Harvard where Emerson discovered transendentalism, and his career shifted paths. He started to give lectures on his philosophy of life and the human spirit. It was at one of these lectures that a young, influential man by the name Thoreau first was introduced to Emerson.
Thoreau, born in 1817, was the son of a pencil maker. His mother ran a boarding house where she hosted many of the intellectuals of their time. Thoreau attended Harvard as well, and that was where he was introduced to Emerson. He became fascinated with Emerson&#8217;s philosophy while sitting in on one of his lectures. Emerson became...

...﻿Emerson and Thoreau
When prominent literary theorists come to mind, many think of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. These men are both brilliant and share many of the same pleasures, such as a love of their surroundings and the importance of nature. They both shared views towards an alternate government and lived the lives of individualistic, laid back non-conformists. Thoreau and Emerson were among the elite writers in the Transcendentalist movement. Both men found the need for change in the American system but took slightly different philosophical routes.
Transcendentalism began amidst the middle of the nineteenth century as a religious concept rooted in the ideas of American democracy. A group of Boston ministers, Emerson being one, decided that the Unitarian Church had become too conservative; in response they adopted a new religious philosophy that focused on inherent wisdom in the soul over doctrine. Emerson began publishing works that became essential to the movement, Nature, “The American Scholar” and “Self Reliance.” His works, such as other transcendentalist works, focused on the divinity of nature. Emerson writes in Nature, “Let us interrogate the great apparition that shines so peacefully around us. Let us inquire, to what end is nature?” For Emerson, nature is a direct line to God, and its “meaning” is...

...will complete two assignments for the assessment for this lesson.
Part I. Ralph Waldo Emerson
In an essay published in 1841, Emerson addressed one of the central characteristics of the American sensibility: individualism. Before you read, take a moment to think about the term “self-reliance” and what it means to you as a teenager and a student. As you read, determine what “self-reliance” meant to Emerson and how your meaning and his overlap.
Read "Self Reliance."
Open and complete the questions on the Emerson Questions page.
Then, continue to Part II.
Part II Henry David Thoreau
"Civil Disobedience" was inspired by a night in jail, which Thoreau had to serve for not paying his poll tax. His refusal to pay a tax to the state stemmed from his opposition to slavery. The state supported it, and to show his disdain towards the state's position, he refused to pay this tax. Some people have suggested the essay shows that Thoreau merely wanted to withdraw from life and all its hard questions. Others see Thoreau's position as the only one he could take to justify his stand. Upon completion of this assignment, Part II, you will have to decide for yourself how this essay affects you.
Read "Civil Disobedience."
Write a letter to the editor either in support of, or in opposition to this statement from the excerpt above,
"That government is best...

...Michael Smith
English 11
G-2
Emerson vs. Thoreau
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were extremely wonderful writers and renowned poets. Both had so much influence on early and even present literature. It is amazing what you can learn about each individual.
First, I would like to start by introducing Emerson. Born May 25, 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts. Just two weeks before his eighth birthday, Emerson’s father died of stomach cancer. He went on to live with his aunt, Mary Moody Emerson. He entered college at the age of 14 and graduated at the age of 18 at the middle of his class of 59. After he left college he went on to assist with his brother in a young women’s school. In 1827, on Christmas day he married his first wife, Ellen Louisa Tucker. They married in Concord, New Hampshire. Two years after their marriage she died. He visited her grave daily, in Roxbury. He became a pastor at Boston’s Second Church but not very long. He eventually came to settle in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1835 he sent a letter to Lydia Jackson asking her to marry him. Four days later, he got a letter of acceptance. They lived together in a house he named Bush. As Emerson got older, he started to suffer from Aphasia. He started to forget things and it got to the point where he was even forgetting his name. This all happened around the year 1871. As all this started...

...Damskov 1
Detra Damskov
Instructor Kym Snelling
American Literature I
20 January 2015
Individualism in Emerson and Thoreau’s writing
Individualism is one of the main tenants of Transcendentalism. According to
transcendentalist thought, the goal of individualism is to ignite our innate thoughts, inspired by
the divinity that is nature. Consequently, individualism is in direct opposition to the average
person’s propensity to form thoughts reliant upon other people’s value systems and views. Both
authors caution their audience against blind respect and adherence to empty laws and societal
norms as they see many of these laws as arbitrary and prejudiced, and see their very existence as
nothing more than antiquated customs devoid of any real meaning. While transcendentalist
thinkers, Ralph Waldo Emerson and David Thoreau both enthusiastically venerate this notion of
individualism, there exists a subtle difference in the application of their shared belief system.
Thoreau essentially takes Emerson’s passionate credence of Individualism and brings it to its full
and active fruition, especially as it relates to governmental resistance.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s call to individualism speaks predominantly of an introspective ...

...themselves transcendentalists, there should similarities between Thoreau and Emerson, yet there is more than a noticeable similarity between the two writers. Thoreau and Emerson share common views on their logical reasoning for issues. Both writers stress an importance of the individual over the society. Henry David Thoreau expresses this thought by accepting the motto "That government is best which governs least" in the first sentence of his essay Resistance to Civil Government. These similarities may have developed through Thoreau's reading of Emerson's Nature essay.
Emerson and Thoreau realized that Nature is evasive, an idea so complex that man could never quite grasp. Still, for both of these men, there was thrill in the extraordinary chase for answers that remained just outside of their comprehension. Emerson and Thoreau also view nature as voice. Emerson calls nature " ¦ the organ through which the universal spirit speaks to the individual, and strives to lead back the individual to it.  Emerson and Thoreau saw nature as a constant expression of their spirits.
They both considered human beings as the most significant entity of the universe. Though, a group of humans does not have more importance than a single individual, Emerson's insistence on being an individual and finding the...

...including Henry David Thoreau prized during the Romantic Movement. The Romantic Movement refers to the era in which writers and philosophers were highly concerned with the soul. The soul is the opposite of intellect. Not meaning lack of intellect rather just a focus on feelings. Rather than calling on men to think and be rational like that of the Enlightenment, there was a call for emotion. There was a call for living everyday not getting through every day. Henry DavidThoreau is a prime example of romanticism.
Thoreau has a very deep expression of romanticism in his autobiography “Walden.” One quote from Thoreau that really summed up this whole idea is, “Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” He is really expressing a beautiful view on life. A life spent in love. The life nature intended us to live not this life of worry and infatuation with money and luxury. To take ones time and enjoy
the moment to the fullest. Don’t just look at what’s in front of you. Live in the sight, get enveloped in it, one would be very surprised how good it feels to get truly lost in something as simple as staring off at the sights.
Norton anthology divides the romantic error into two general ideas. One is the idea of individualism; the other is the idea of nature. The basis of individualism is reliance...

...c. Individual follows his own set of rules
While Emerson and Thoreau certainly have difference of opinions, they recognize the need for public discussion and discourse.
a.“Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience” supports individuality and personal expression.
b. Views of society and government
c. Passionate belief in the necessity of rights
http://thoreau.eserver.org/wendy.html
The two authors Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau, are similar in many ways. A first example would be their clear love of nature, and their surroundings. Another example would be their view towards government, although ones opinion may be a bit more "radical" than the others. And for a third example, they both were non-conformists, and believed in a laid back life-style.
The first reason, and perhaps the most obvious due to both author's work, would be their love of nature. Both Emerson and Thoreau lived in wooded areas, and spent time out doors. Thoreau while in concord, studied nature. Emerson believed that each individual had "a spark of divinity, and that people should search for truths in nature. Emerson lived on Walden pond, where Thoreau also lived for a while. And due to their books, and the content in them, you can tell right off hand that they both loved nature.
Both Emerson and...